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Can Openers
British merchant Peter Durand made an impact on food preservation with his 1810 invention of the tin can. The first tin cans were very
thick and had to be hammered open. John Hall and Bryan Dorkin opened the first commercial canning factory in England in 1813. As cans became thinner, it became possible to invent simpler can openers.
In 1858, Ezra J. Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut patented the first can opener. The US. military used it during the Civil War.
The inventor of the household can opener was William Lyman. William Lyman patented a very easy to use can opener in 1870. The kind with the
wheel that rolls and cuts around the rim of a can. The Star Can Company of San Francisco improved William Lyman's can opener in 1925 by adding a serrated edge to the wheel. An electric version of
the same type of can opener was first sold in December of 1931.
In 1866, J. Osterhoudt patented the tin can with a key opener.
DID YOU KNOW...
To barbecue means to slow-cook meat at a low temperature for a long time over wood or charcoal. In America, barbecue (or BBQ) originated in the
late 1800's during Western cattle drives. The cowboys were fed the less than perfect cuts of meat, often brisket, a tough and stringy piece of meat that required five to seven hours of cooking to
tenderize. Other barbecue meats used were pork butt, pork ribs, beef ribs, venison and goat. However, barbecue was not invented in America and no one knows who actually invented it. The word
'Barbecue' might come from the Taino Indian word 'barbacoa' meaning meat-smoking apparatus. 'Barbecue' could have also originated from the French word "Barbe a
queue" which means "whiskers-to-tail." No one is sure of the correct origins of the word.
Henry Ford invented the charcoal briquette in 1920 with the help of Thomas Edison. Ford is the man who popularized the gas-powered car in
America and invented the assembly line for automobile manufacturing. Ford created the briquette from the wood scraps and sawdust from his car factory. E.G. Kingsford bought the invention and put the
charcoal briquette into commercial production.
I did receive an interesting email citing a correction to the above paragraph. Although I couldn't verify its validity (the patent search
came up with a blank screen), you might find this interesting. Accurate? I don't know. It is possible that his grandfather MIGHT have invented the design for a permanent briquette for gas grilles, though from what I could ascertain, the name and patent number didn't match up. Again, I got pathetically little from the patent search. But it's yet another source and I would like to share it with you:
"Henry Ford invented the charcoal briquette in 1920 with the help of Thomas Edison."
Makes a good story - but is
not true. The ORIGINAL design for briquettes was patented by Ellsworth B. A. Zwoyer (my great-grandfather) in 1897. You can get the drawings and specifications of the original patents at the US
Patent Office web site. Search for D27483 and D27484. I have seen many web sites, Kingsford literature, and even a TV special citing Henry Ford as the "inventor" of briquettes. I think
credit should be given where due. I do have an old snapshot of my great grandfather, Ford and Edison together. Thanks for your time!
Gary W. Neal
President & Publisher
Warrick
Publishing Company, Inc.
Phone number and email address deleted for privacy purposes
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